Needlecraft frame

ABSTRACT

A frame including adjustable frame sides having pivotally interconnected first and second side arms. The side frames carry and space a pair of rollers receiving the needlecraft canvas. The first side arm has a plurality of holes into which a pivot pin, mounted on the other side arm, may be inserted. The side arm carrying the pin has an arcuate slot in which a clamp fastener may be received. The clamp fastener is received through a hole in the first side arm and through the slot in the second side arm so that the frame may be locked in the extended position. Keyhole slots at the end of the side arms trap and engage spaced parallel flats on the rollers to hold the rollers against rotation and in spaced arrangement.

States Patent 11 1 Amara Jan. 14, 1975 NEEDLECRAFT FRAME Primary ExaminerPatrick D. Lawson [76] Inventor: Alfonso Amaro, 3641 Fireway Dr., Attorney Agent or FlrmBrown &

San Diego, Calif. 92111 22 Filed: Jan. 17, 19741 [57] ABSTRACT [21] APPL NW 434,052 A frame including adjustable frame sides having pivotally mterconnected first and second s1de arms. The side frames carry and space a pair of rollers receiving U-S- Cl- 1 the needlecraft canvas The first ide arm has a plural- CL of holes into a pivot pin mounted on Fleld of Search other ide arm may be nserted The s de arm arry ng 38/1022, 102-1 the pin has an arcuate slot in which a clamp fastener may be received. The clamp fastener is received References Clted through a hole in the first side arm and through the UNITED STATES PATENTS slot in the second side arm so that the frame may be 1,587,422 6/1926 Rose 38/1024 locked in the extended Position Keyhole Slots at the 3,774,326 11/1973 Selden 38/102.4 end of the side arms trap and engage spaced parallel FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS gig gzggz f ggg g gl s rollers agams 4,483 12/1887 Great Britain 38/102 7 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PATEN TED JAN 1 4 I975 NEEDLECRAFT FRAME I BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Needlecraft involves the sewing of patterns, pictures and designs onto cloth held in a frame. The needle carrying the decorative thread must be passed back and forth through the fabric, referred to as a canvas. The canvas must be stretched and held in position during this operation. Various needlecraft frames have been provided for this purpose, including interfitting circular hoops that hold a selected portion of the fabric in position. However, modern needlecraft practice is to employ a rectangular frame in which a canvas is applied and stretched between opposed rollers. The use of rollers makes it possible to store excess material which is not being sewn at the moment and still retain a working area of managable size.

Many prior art needlecraft frames have not provided for an adjustment in the size of the working area, and therefore require the user to obtain a series of frame side arms and rollers to obtain variable area capability. Further, those prior art devices which have provided for adjustable side arms have not provided for any stability in the positioning of the side arms so the process of adjusting the side arms to a new length is difficult to accomplish accurately, and frequently results in differential stretching of the fabric producing distorted designs and other problems. In other prior art frames the ends of the rollers are not securely retained within the side arms and therefore must be manually placed in position during each adjustment of the side arms or the advancing of the working area.

It is therefore desirable to have a needlecraft frame that is adjustable for the size of the working area, and which makes provision for advancing of the working area on the rollers in a manner that is easily accomplished without differential stretching of the canvas.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In a exemplary embodiment of the ivention the side frames comprise paired first and second side arms having a pivotal inter-connection. The inter-connection takes the form of a pin proturding from the second side arm which pin is receivable in one of a plurality of spaced openings in the first side arm. Thus, by the selection of an appropriate hole the overall length of the frame side may be varied. In conjunction with the pivotal inter-connection there is provided clamp fastener means that are received through selected ones the spaced openings in the second side arms, and through a first arcuate slots in the first side arms, to securely hold the side arms in their extended and longitudinally aligned relationship. Second arcuate slots are provided in the first side arms so the side arms may be folded upon themselves for storage and shipping of the frame in a minimum space. The outer ends of the side arms are provided with a keyhole slot. The narrow portion of the keyhole slot is directed towardd the center of the frame sides. Spaced parallel flats are provided on the rollers near the outer ends of the rollers so that the rol-- ler may be inserted into the narrow portion of the key hole slot and held against rotation. The flats are spaced by a distance substantially corresponding to the distance between the sides of the narrow portion of the keyhole slots.

When it is desired to move the working area the clamp fasteners are released allowing the side arms to pivot about the pivot pin and thus: reducing the distance between the rollers. This action releases the rollers from the narrower portion of the keyhole slot whereby the rollers may be moved outwardly into the enlarged portion of the keyhole and are thereby made free to rotate. The rollers are then rotated to advance the canvas to the desired location whereupon the flats of the rollers are aligned with the sides of the narrow portion of the keyhole slot and moved inwardly to engage the slot sides. The side arms are again moved to alignment which causes the clamp fastener to pass into the acruate slot, whereupon the fastener may be tightened to hold the arms in alignment. When it becomes necessary to advance the canvas, or to adjust the tension thereof, the side arms are again returned to their partially folded position by loosening the fastener and folding them at their pivotal interconnection. One or both of the rollers may then be advanced to achieve the desired tension and canvas position and the arms again returned to their aligned position and fastened in place.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an new and improved needlecraft frame.

It is another object of the invention to provide a new and improved needlecraft frame which is easily adjustable to vary the canvas area.

It is another object of the invention to provide a new and improved needlecraft frame which tensions the canvas evenly.

It is another object of the invention to provide a new and improved needlecraft frame which is easily manufactured.

It is another object of the invention to provide a new and improved needlecraft frame which is easilyoper ated.

It is another object of the invention to provide a new and improved needlecraft frame which folds to a small size for storage and shipping.

It is another object of the invention to provide a new and improved needlecraft frame which retains the rollers against inadvertant dislodgement.

Other object and many attendant advantages of the invention will become apparent upon reading of the following detailed description, together with the drawings in which like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the frame with the canvas stretched.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view, with one side shown in section.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken on line 303 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a similar sectional view, but showing the frame partically folded prior to tensioning the canvas.

Referring now to the drawingsthere is illustrated the needlecraft frame 10 according to the invention. The frame 10 is comprised of two side frames 12 and 14 and two end roller 16 and 18. Each :side frame has a first side arm 22 with a plurality of spaced openings 24, and a second side arm 26 with arcuate slots 28 and 30. Second side arm 26 also mounts the pivot pin 32. At the end of the side arms there are keyhole slots 34 and 36. Keyhole slot 34 is typical and has an inwardly extending rectangular socket 40. Roller 16 is typical of the rollers and has a flat sided portions 46 formed adjacent each end, leaving end retention portions 48. When in place on the frame the flat portions fit into the sockets 40 of the key hole slots 34. The retention portions protrude beyond the side arms to retain the roller on the side arm.

Referring particularly to FIG. 1 there is illistrated a canvas 50 stretched and retained on roller 16 and 18. The side arms 22 and 26 are shown in longitudinal alignment and are held in alignment by a clamp fastener comprising bolt 54 and wing nut 56 as is best illustrated in FIG. 2. The bolt 54 has a head with a square cross-section portion 55 that is received in the square opening 24, to hold the head of the bolt against rotation. The wing nut 56 bears up aginst the outer surface of the side arm 26 and hold the side arms 26 and 24 in frictional engegement when moving between the aligned and folded positions the shank of the bolt 54 posses along the arcutate slot 28. The slot 28 is positioned along a line forming the circumference of a circle on the axis of the pivot pin 32. With extreme pivoting beyond the partially folded position illustrated in FIG. 2 the shank of the bolt will pass into the arcuate slot 30 permitting the side arms to be folded substantially on one another and to be held in the folded relation by the clamp fastener for minimizing the size of the frame in shipping and storage.

In use, the operator selects a pair of rolls 16 and 18 of the desired length, and attached the canvas 50 to the rollers by suitable means (not shown). The side arms are adjusted to produce the proper side frame length by selecting the proper hole 24 into which to insert the pin 32. The side arms are pivoted to the partially folded position illustrated in FIG. 4 so as to reduce the distance between the key hole slots 34 and 36 at the outer ends of the side arms 22 and 26 respectively. The rollers retention portions 48 are then inserted through the enlarged ends of the key hole slots and a selected pair of parallel flats 46 inserted by moving the rollers toward the center of the side arms into the sockets 40 of the key hole slots 34 and 36. The side arms are then pushed to the aligned relation which stretches the canvas 50 between the rollers 16 and 18 and holds it firmly and evenly in position.

Should it be desirable to adjust the tension of the canvas, the side arms are again relaxed to the partially folded state and a selected roller is advanced by rotating it a quarter of a rotation or more and then reinserting it into the slot 40. The canvas 50 is advanced in a similar mannner by rotating both rollers in the enlarged portions of the keyhole slots 34 and 36 until the desired portion of the canvas is centered on the frame. The flats are then reinstated within the sockets 40 of the slots 34 and 36.

Having described my invention, I now claim:

1. A needlecraft frame including adjustable frame sides for stretching and holding a canvas on rollers, taut and accessable from both sides, and wherein the improvement comprises:

paird first and second side arms having a pivotal interconnection adjacent the inner ends thereof and having roller receiving keyhole slots adjacent the outer ends thereof, said keyhole slots comprising a narrow opening through said side arms connecting with an enlarged opening through said side arms, said narrow opening extending from said enlarged opening along said side arms toward said inner ends of said side arms, a pair of elongated rollers, each of said rollers having at least two parallel flats adjacent the ends thereof, said flats being spaced a distance substantially equal to the spacing between the narrow portion of said keyhole slots and having a major dimension less than the diameter of said enlarged opening. 2. A needlecraft frame according to claim 1 wherein; said side arms have an adjustable total length, said pivotal inter-connection comprises a pin protruding from said second side arms and receivable in a selected one of a plurality of holes spaced longitudinally along said first side arms. 3. A needlecraft frame according to claim 2 further including:

clamp fastener means for securing said side arms in a longitudinally aligned orientation, said clamp fastener means comprising a threaded fastener inserted through a hole in said first side arms spaced from the hole receiving said pin. 4. A needlecraft frame according to claim 1 wherein; said rollers have four right angularly related flats. 5. A needlecraft frame according to claim 1 wherein; the diameter of said rollers, exteriorly of said flats is substantially equal to the diameter of the enlarged opening of said keyhole slot. 6. The needlecraft frame according to claim 2 wherein;

said second side arm mounting said pin has an arcuate slot an arc corresponding to an arc of a circle swung around said pin and spaced at a distance to align with the spacing of one of said holes in said first side arm, whereby a threaded fastener may be received through said side arm without the removal of said fastener from said side arm. 7. The needlecraft frame according to claim 6, wherein;

said arcuate slot is extended into said first side arm, whereby said side arms may be collapsed substantially upon one another to permit folding of said frame. 

1. A needlecraft frame including adjustable frame sides for stretching and holding a canvas on rollers, taut and accessable from both sides, and wherein the improvement comprises: paird first and second side arms having a pivotal interconnection adjacent the inner ends thereof and having roller receiving keyhole slots adjacent the outer ends thereof, said keyhole slots comprising a narrow opening through said side arms connecting with an enlarged opening through said side arms, said narrow opening extending from said enlarged opening along said side arms toward said inner ends of said side arms, a pair of elongated rollers, each of said rollers having at least two parallel flats adjacent the ends thereof, said flats being spaced a distance substantially equal to the spacing between the narrow portion of said keyhole slots and having a major dimension less than the diameter of said enlarged opening.
 2. A needlecraft frame according to claim 1 wherein; said side arms have an adjustable total length, said pivotal inter-connection comprises a pin protruding from said second side arms and receivable in a selected one of a plurality of holes spaced longitudinally along said first side arms.
 3. A needlecraft frame according to claim 2 further including: clamp fastener means for securing said side arms in a longitudinally aligned orientation, said clamp fastener means comprising a threaded fastener inserted through a hole in said first side arms spaced from the hole receivinG said pin.
 4. A needlecraft frame according to claim 1 wherein; said rollers have four right angularly related flats.
 5. A needlecraft frame according to claim 1 wherein; the diameter of said rollers, exteriorly of said flats is substantially equal to the diameter of the enlarged opening of said keyhole slot.
 6. The needlecraft frame according to claim 2 wherein; said second side arm mounting said pin has an arcuate slot an arc corresponding to an arc of a circle swung around said pin and spaced at a distance to align with the spacing of one of said holes in said first side arm, whereby a threaded fastener may be received through said side arm without the removal of said fastener from said side arm.
 7. The needlecraft frame according to claim 6, wherein; said arcuate slot is extended into said first side arm, whereby said side arms may be collapsed substantially upon one another to permit folding of said frame. 